Only Time Will Tell
by VoodooValkryie
Summary: An author finds herself in a little over her head when an ancient clock drops her on her butt at Leon Kennedy's feet, advil anyone? P.S. the title was original a joke, you know; only time will tell what the title will be. However I now think its perfect.
1. Home Alone

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the recognizable characters in this story. Rowan and the plot(what little there is of it) are however mine.

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Leon Scott Kennedy stood at the edge of the cliff and took in the decimated bridge and the two smoking cars in the river below. He was still a little breathless from the adrenalin rush he had acquired back in the dilapidated house.

"Shit," he said, and that's where Rowan stopped typing.

"Hmm, what _did_ he say at that part?" she asked out loud. She had not played the game in a very long time, well that's how it felt, but truthfully it had only been the year she was away at college. She was writing her first ever fan-fiction that she intended to put on a site she had stumbled onto while at school. To answer her own question she opened a new page on her laptop and found the right part.

"Oh my bad," she said, apparently the correct answer was "oh no". At that point Rowan stopped writing and headed for the kitchen, seeing as she hadn't eaten all day, and it was now eleven at night it seemed like a good idea.

After a turkey sandwich and a large amount of caffeine she went back to work. She documented Leon's little misadventure through the village, several times actually, until she had it just right. It mostly followed the game except for a few places where she had added more dialogue. Rowan mostly kept to the story line because she didn't really know where she was going with her own story just yet.

She decided that because she had such good detail (if she said so herself) that it was long enough to count as a first chapter. She saved her work and just as she was cracking her knuckles her mother's grandfather clock struck twelve. It chimed once, twice, three times, then _chink_.

"Wha…," she grunted, " that's not suppose to happen. Shit if mom comes back and that things busted it'll break her heart."

Rowan was home from college for the next two months and her parents and younger siblings had decided on a small vacation, which she had opted out off. So she figured she had about four days to get it fixed. Rowan sighed and started to clean up the mess she had made in the living room. She unceremoniously shoved her written notes and papers into her old messenger bag and then shoved her laptop and all of its accessories in after it. She made a pit stop in the kitchen to grab another sandwich, this time ham, and headed upstairs. The clock was in the hallway just outside of her room and across from her parents.

She had intended on dropping her stuff on her bed and coming back to tinker with the ancient thing, however, when she heard something moving around inside the clock she stopped. Rowan almost brushed it off as her overactive imagination and the dark house, until it happened again. This time hard enough to lightly rock the tall time piece.

"Hmm," she narrowed her eyes and took another bite of her sandwich. She slung her bag over her shoulder, so that the strap crossed her chest, then stepped forward.

Only to have the body of the clock burst open and a solid force behind her give her a powerful shove.

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Well that's it for now, I'm kinda new to all of this so if you spot an error I missed please let me know. I'll update as soon as I can and we'll see just what the psycho clock did to me.

P.S. if you haven't made the connection, the Rowan in the story is in fact me-see the penname above. I know I know. My first go is a self-insert. What a dork. So sue me.

I'd really like reviews by the way, hint hint


	2. Cosmic JetLag

**Disclaimer**: all recognizable characters in this story are not mine; I think we've established that.

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For the next few moments, or maybe even years, all Rowan knew was intense pain. She did not think and she had no sense of time. Her entire world had been condensed to the pain in her body; the outside world no longer existed. Suddenly, for one moment, one blindingly crystal clear moment she wondered if this was what it would feel like to be set on fire and left to die three miles below the surface of the ocean. Then she knew nothing.

When she slowly became aware of herself the first thing she noticed was the stiffness of her body, the next was the soft and slightly muddied earth beneath her. She remained where she was, dazed, for several minutes just inhaling the earthy sent. When her mind caught up with the stimuli, her body jerked painfully of its own accord and she gasped for air like it was a suddenly precious commodity.

When the spasms were reduced to violent shaking she vomited and crawled a few feet before curling into the fetal position and trying to control her body. She was tiered and sick, but in the end she managed to slow her breathing and heart rate to a more reasonable pace. She used the sleeve of her baggy gray sweater to wipe the foul tasting residue from her mouth, then she used a nearby tree to pull herself to her shaky feet. Her body ached like she had lifted weights and run a marathon. The next couple of minutes were spent silently stretching her legs, arms, and back until the pain was reduced to a dull throb.

"Anyone got an Advil?" she asked. There was no answer, obviously, but it made her feel better to know she was still capable of speech, even if her voice was a bit hoarse. Hell just the sound of a human voice, even her own, was a nice feeling.

When she was positive she could stand on her own she started walking. She quickly left the small clearing she had found herself in and pushed through the underbrush, thanking any god that might be listening that she was still wearing the dark jeans and waterproof hiking boots she had worn to walk her neighbors dog however many hours before. Her watch told her that fifteen minutes had passed before she stumbled onto anything resembling a road. She thought that it saw more action from free roaming cattle and horse drawn wagons than it did from anything else. She hoped that would actually work in her favor. Hell she was alone, lost, cold, tiered, and confused, but that didn't mean that she should run up to the first person she came across. Some thing was vary wrong with her environment; she just had no idea what.

"It's silent, too silent." She joked to herself, but there was little humor in it. That wasn't it anyhow; she could hear birds and some kind of insect humming in the background.

Rowan only stopped walking when she heard the sound of a bell tolling in the not to far off distance. It was coming from behind her but she didn't mind retracing her steps. If she could get access to a phone of some sort she could get this mess all sorted out; she hoped. She stopped suddenly and reached into her back jean pocket, her wallet was still there and after a quick glance she confirmed that her $700 dollars worth of Christmas cash was still there as well.

"First step to making fast friends," she said quietly. With a definite plan of action in mind Rowan found the energy to break into a light jog. After a few twists and turns and a surprisingly short time later she found herself looking down from a slight hill at a dirty little backwoods town.

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**Ok that was my second try, go me! **

**Anyhow it's the same as last time; if you see any errors please tell me – in a constructive way- and ill try to fix them. **

**I'm not going the beg for or demand reviews but if I don't get them ill most likely lose interest in the story, I mean why should I write if no one is goin to comment on it. **

**I think that covers it for now, so read and review and I would really like it if a more experienced member could help beta(?) my writing. **


	3. Deja vu and a rude awakening

Disclaimer: no, I do not in fact own anything to do with Resident Evil

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Rowan stood quietly, just inside the tree line. She watched the town with a mixture of mild disgust and intense confusion. The bell from a few moments ago had only just stopped ringing and the echo was still fading. From her vantage point she could see the door on a large building slam shut. The bell tower she realized.

Rowan's disgust stemmed from the smell of dead things and pond scum that was wafting up to her from the village. She scrunched her nose in disgust one last time before a tight ball of nerves formed in the pit of her stomach. It came so suddenly she was almost knocked off her feet. Instead she doubled over with her arms crossed over her stomach.

"Fuck," she said forcefully. Some people called it a sixth sense and others said it must be woman's intuition, she didn't give a damn what it was, all she knew was that bad things always happened just after. Rowan plopped down on her ass with an aggravated huff and started the breathing exercises she had used earlier for her sickness. It didn't take long for her to push the pain aside, but it was still there. She pulled her messenger bag into her lap and started to dig around. She had to work her way past her notes and computer before she found the small bottle of Advil at the bottom. When she popped it open, however, it was empty. She hoped up quickly and tossed the bottle into the brush behind her. She turned back to the village with a dark scowl and picked up her loping jog again.

It was not until she reached the first line of houses that she was hit with a powerful sense of Déjà vu. The houses directly to her left and right were just as run down and mangy as the others, and just as abandoned looking. She walked into the middle of the village and found a large bonfire. She stared at it for a few seconds not really comprehending. Then she heard a disturbingly familiar voice.

"Where's everyone going, bingo?" Rowan quickly crouched behind a stack of crates and tried not to hyperventilate.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, oh god, she thought rapidly. _

"Leon you need to get out of there," said a woman's voice, it was small and distant, obviously coming over a radio, "look for a tower. Follow the trail near it."

"Got it."

_Oh god it's Leon, its fucking Leon Kennedy,_ Rowan thought, panicked, she had a split second to make a decision, make contact or run back the way she had originally been headed. Just then the thought struck her that even if she ran, what if she was in a different world. Stupid as that sounded, even to her, it made perfect sense given the circumstance. With out giving herself more time to think about what she was doing Rowan stepped out from her hiding place.

"It's Leon, right?" she forced herself to stand her ground when he whipped around and trained his pistol on her head. He looked startled for a few moments as he took in her appearance. She knew what he was seeing. A tall, young American woman in her late teens to early twenties with dark blue eyes and dark brown hair that fell to her mid-back. Her gray sweater and dark blue jeans were covered in mud and her brown hiking boots were caked in the clay like substance. She noticed his moment of open surprise passed swiftly and he was once again the unshakable secret agent man that she remembered from Resident Evil 4.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he said with authority. Rowan deciding her best bet was to play it cool, cocked an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the gun still trained on her face. Maybe she would get lucky and remind him of his love interest, Ada. _Oh snap, that's right…he has no idea. _

"I wish I knew," she answered, her voice was still a little scratchy as if she had been speaking loudly for several hours. Agent Kennedy seemed to relax a little, apparently he was willing to accept her sketchy answer. In the short silence that followed, in which Leon continued to give her a wary look, she hatched a plan to gain Leon's trust and protection- admittedly that would mean going through the "game" with him and facing the things he and Ashley faced, but she had the foreknowledge she would need to give her an edge.

"So," she said quietly, to pull Leon from his thoughts, "are you the one they sent to rescue the blonde woman I saw?"

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Well that's the third chapter for you; anyhow you all know the drill, leave a review.

Hopefully the chapters will continue to get longer, bye for now


	4. Boulder Dash

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything to do with Resident Evil.

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Rowan noted with some concern that Leon looked suspicious of her again. A moment later, however, she relaxed when he just sighed in a tiered way and holstered his weapon. Which reminded her, if they came across the merchant she was getting her own weapon, whether Leon liked it or not. Leon then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper, Ashley's picture she knew.

"Yes," he said quietly, "did she look something like this?" Leon held the picture out for her to get a good look and she put on a show of giving his question so serious thought.

"Yeah," she said slowly at first, then more confidently, "yeah that's definitely her. I only saw her once and it was from a respectable distance, but I'm positive. Her body shape is the same and there are very few blondes in Spain."

"I see," he said thoughtfully, "so, tell me, how exactly did you get here?" _Good question, _Rowan thought for a few seconds and decided on the easiest answer.

"I don't really remember," she said. "But I do remember a large blonde man, there was something wrong with his face I think, but I can't be sure." Rowan figured she would try to give Leon a heads up about Krauser. The way she saw things, if she were going to suffer through this nightmare come true then she was going to do things her way, by forcing things to happen as she directed them. And the knife fight and following chasse through that fucking maze with Krauser was one of the things she was not going to stand for. She had died three times the first time she had played the game and Leon didn't have the luxury of a reset button.

"Hmm," was all Leon gave as a reply before he again pulled out his radio.

"Hunnigan," he said by way of greetings when her image came up.

"What's wrong Leon?" she asked all business.

"What ever is going on here, it looks like Ashley's not the only one involved," he answered grimly, "I've found a second girl, she's definitely an American and she confirmed that Ashley is here. The girl doesn't remember how she got here but she was able to give a brief description of her kidnapper." As he finished talking he looked expectantly at Rowan. She took that as her que to repeat her 'vague' description of Krauser.

"Big," she said loudly enough for Hunnigan to hear her, "and not just tall, he was built like Mister Universe. His hair was blonde and what little I remember of his face was a scar, at least I think that's what was wrong with him, but like I said that could have been what ever drug he used to knock me out." Leon just nodded absently; Rowan hoped he was remembering something to do with his 'deceased' comrade.

"Did you get all of that Hunnigan?" Leon asked turning his attention back to the device in his hand.

"Yes, Leon, I've got it, ill see what I can find out. Until you find Ashley keep Miss…," at that point her voice dropped off in an unspoken question.

"DePrae," Rowan said loudly enough for the other woman to catch. "It's Rowan DePrae."

"Yes well keep her safe, but remember Leon, Ashley is your primary concern." At this Rowans brow creased and her dark eyes became darker with an anger bordering on rage. When she spoke, however, her voice was eerily calm and commanding as if she had just grown taller by several inches and donned a crown.

"When we get out of this _Hunnigan_," Rowan almost hissed the woman's name, "you had better pray to any god that will listen that I'm in no condition to come for you."

"I'll keep that in mind," the other woman said, her voice (as Rowan was not at an angle to see her) sounded apologetic rather than sarcastic.

"We'll be in touch later Leon." Hunnigan said, once again all business and Leon pocketed the radio. During the exchange between the two women he had opted to remain silent. Rowan wasn't sure if that was because he had been uncomfortable or if he was just displaying more intelligence than most others of his gender. After a brief moment of awkward silence( on Leon's part) they both realized that they had been standing in the open for the better part of four minutes.

" We need to get moving," Leon said. He quickly glanced around looking for the trail Hunnigan had mentioned earlier. He spotted it with out much trouble. It was back the way Rowan had come from and past the bon fire. As they got closer to it she couldn't help but look up at the charred remains of the Spanish police officer from the game.

" If only they had come with me," Leon whispered to himself. Rowan realized suddenly that if she had not emptied her stomach in the forest, she would have the first time the smell of roasting human flesh joined the stench of dead things and swamp water. She figured it was only the shock of what she had seen and then her meeting with Leon that had prevented it, she couldn't help but silently dry heave a few times. It was only as they were walking down the path that she remembered the boulder. She quickly looked and took off running full tilt. She knew she would not be fast enough to out run it if it were right on her heels.

"Hey," Leon yelled after her, but she was already in sight of the tunnel when she felt the ground shake violently as the boulder hit the ground and started picking up speed. She only knew Leon was safe because she heard him curse loudly. Rowan reached the tunnel before Leon and tried to skid to a halt, but she ended up halfway to the other side due to her frantic pace and the help of the down hill path. A few seconds later Leon landed with oomph! and the tunnel rocked harshly from the impact of the boulder.

"Are you ok?" Leon coughed out as he rolled back to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Shit," was all she could say. Leon took it as an answer but Rowan was really talking to herself. _I can't afford to do that again, _she thought. She really wanted to tell herself that everything would be fine, that it was only a game, but the memory of the officer's burnt flesh and the powerful odor it had given off was telling her that it was anything but a game. After all, you can't smell death in a game.

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Ok that was fun, the next chapter will be along soon( its half written) so until then leave a review.


	5. Tripwire, beartraps, and ganados Oh my

Disclaimer: I do not own resident evil, if I did would I really be writing crappy fan-fiction.

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Rowan was so deep in thought that she gave a strangled yelp and elbowed poor Leon in the chest when he touched her shoulder. She instantly felt bad because he was her favorite character, but also because he had been trying to offer her comfort. Ada was right in Resident Evil: City of the Dead by S.D. Perry, Leon was a naturally sweet guy.

"I'm sorry," she said finally. She noticed that he was still lightly rubbing his sternum.

"I'm fine," he said, still more concerned for how she was feeling, "I just wasn't expecting you to lash out, but given what you've been through I should have known you'd be a bit jumpy." At that he gave her a wry smile. He looked past her and down the tunnel they were standing very close to the exit now. After they had recovered, somewhat, from their run and she had her little break down moment, Rowan had walked to the exit and peeked out at the path ahead. It had been a year since she had last played but this part was easy enough to remember. Trip wires, bear traps, and of course Plagas infected villagers with high explosive. It should be a walk in the park.

She was still kicking herself for forgetting the boulder so she started to list all of the parts of the game that she would have to face or somehow slip off, like when Ashley gets kidnapped or for that matter maybe she should insist on going with Luis, _oh snap._ That was another problem in and of its self. She had almost flipped out when Luis died in the game. Now she knew it was going to happen and, if she played her cards right, she had the power to stop it.

"Ok," Leon said as if he had reached a decision on something, "Rowan, as much as I would like to keep moving, I think it would be best if you could tell me about every thing you have heard or seen so far. This could be the only chance we'll get to just talk with out villagers after us." _Oh, Leon, you have no idea,_ she thought.

"Well," she said slowly, not sure what she should tell him, at this point she wasn't positive that Ashley had been moved to the church, "like I said, my kidnaper used some kind of drug, something on a rag that he put over my mouth until I passed out. So I don't know much. When I woke up I was in an old house and there was only one guard in the room with me. My hands were tied, but my not my feet, so I kicked him in the groin and then when he doubled over I kicked him in the face, hard. His head snapped back and there was a lot of blood. I think he was either unconscious or dead because he didn't make a sound. That's the only reason the two other guards outside of the house didn't come after me. The man I…dispatched had a hatchet with him and that's how I untied myself. I explored the house after that and didn't find anything of interest, that's when I heard a commotion outside. When I chanced a peek out the window I saw an unconscious blonde woman being taken out of another house. At that point I went to the back of the house, thinking I was next, and I slipped out a window and into the woods. I saw you fighting in the village from where I was hiding and came to find you. The rest is history." As she finished speaking Rowan gave herself a mental pat on the back, that had been a very good lie. Because she had said that Ashley was unconscious the other woman had no way of disproving that it had happened. Leon thought it over for a few moments, but she could tell by his eyes and his body language that he was not questioning the truth of her story. She thought it must be the fact that she could say just about anything with a perfectly straight face.

"Alright," Leon said, "if you think of anything else let me know. No matter how unimportant it may seem."

_Don't worry Leon, _she thought, _I'm going to be dropping hints like its going out of style. _

"Kay," she answered, but the gears in her mind were already back to plotting. They were going to be going through some dangerous stuff soon and she was confident that Leon would protect her. So, she thought, should I pull an Ashley and duck and cover every time something happens, dropping hints when needed, or should I take a more active role, like Ada?

"Let's go," Leon pulled her from her musings again. His gun was back in his hand and he started walking. She could only follow, for now that was all she could do. _Why can't we meet the stupid merchant now! He was an integral part of her plans. _

As they exited the tunnel that had been hiding them, they walked into a small clearing with three ruined houses. One of them was almost nonexistent and the one to there left was so full of wood rot a strong wind might be the end of it. The third house, the most intact, was also the furthest from them. They were halfway to the last house when Leon put his foot in a bear trap that neither of them had noticed. That was when the villagers with dynamite had decided to make there presence known

"Shit, shit," Leon ground out between his teeth. He had dropped his gun at his feet and immediately tried to pry open the bear trap. He redoubled his efforts when a stick of dynamite landed next to him. Rowan snapped out of her slight shock and, before thinking, scooped the thing up and tossed it back. It went through the window it had originated from and it must have exploded just as it was hitting the ground, because the two villagers didn't have time to do more than gawk at her stupidly.

For a few moments after all Rowan could do was gape silently at the destruction she had just reeked on the already unsteady house. Apparently, unlike in the game, the things around here were more than capable of being destroyed.

"Oh shit, a little help back here," Leon said, the strain in his voice the only thing to betray the extent of his pain. Rowan snapped out of it, the second time in as many minutes, and turned her back on the house. If the house had taken so much damage she doubted the two ganados would be giving her any more trouble. By the time they had figured out how to get the trap off without hurting Leon further, he was panting heavily and had broken out in a cold sweat.

"Shit," Leon said for the hundredth time, it seemed to be his favorite expletive. He wrapped his arm around Rowans shoulder and she helped him hobble over to a more protected area. They hid themselves behind a broken wall in the wreckage of the house she had blown up.

"Leon, just relax, do you have any kind of first aid?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," he said and reached behind himself to pull out a can of first aid spray and a green cure all plant. She watched curiously as he stuffed the leaves into his mouth and made a face. Then he split the stem and carrot like root with his thumb nail, he smeared the clear sap directly onto the open wound. Rowan had always wondered how that worked.

"Did you know," Leon started, "that the sap of the green cure all, applied directly to a small wound like a cut or scrape, will heal almost instantly." Rowan arched an eyebrow, not really sure where Leon was going with this.

"Yes," she answered, "I actually was aware of that."

"Really," he said in a pleased tone, "well, it's a little known fact, but when the green cure all is mixed with the first aid spray, its healing powers are amplified." To demonstrate, Leon carefully rolled up his pant leg to give her a good look at his still bleeding wound. It actually wasn't as bad as she had originally thought, just a lot of blood. There were three major puncture marks, two on the outside of his leg and one on the inside; they were still slowly seeping blood.

Leon motioned for her to hand over the first aid spray and she did. Rowan couldn't help but wince in sympathy as Leon hissed. He carefully opened each puncture mark as far as he could and sprayed the healing chemicals as deeply as he could. Then he closed each one and held it shut. Rowan watched in barely concealed fascination as the wounds fizzed and closed over, the skin left behind was a shiny dark pink color, almost like a burn.

"How does that work?" she asked after she had helped Leon to his feet, he tested his leg a few times before placing his full weight on it and grinning at her.

"Well, we don't actually know," he said and sat back down, resting his back against the wall, "it's a natural chemical reaction between the sap and something or other in the first aid spray. They've been working on it for a few years now, but with no luck." Leon suddenly coughed and looked first at her and then looked pointedly at her messenger bag

"I don't suppose you have any real food in there do you?" Rowan laughed lightly at the seriousness in Leon's voice, looks like he was already sick of energy bars.

"Today is your lucky day," she answered and started digging. She resurfaces a few seconds later with a small bag of teriyaki beef jerky and a bag of skittles, "not the healthiest meal in the world but its all I've got."

"Jerky is low in fat and high in protein," Leon pointed out as he grabbed a piece and started gnawing on it.

"Hey," Rowan said as timidly as she could, "could I go be alone for a few moments while you rest, I promise not to go far, not even out of sight." Leon began to protest but stopped and scanned there surroundings, including the rest of the house A.K.A. wreckage.

"Well, it certainly seems they chose the wrong girls to kidnap. It looks like you're more than qualified to take care of your self, first you escape and then you save my ass. Just stay were I can see you," Rowan nodded her understanding of the order, not really sure if he had been trying to make her feel better with that or trying to make himself feel better about not being the one to protect her.

"yeah," she said trying to make him feel better, "It just so happens that I personally know both Karma _and_ Fate." Leon smiled at that but Rowans overactive imagination chose that moment to give her a scenario in which Leon found out about her lie. "Leon, if you meet up with any of the people here, could you…" at that point she trailed of and looked into space trying to think of a good way to word what she wanted.

"What is it?" Leon asked, concerned after seeing her worried look.

"Well it's just that I was hoping if you came across any of the kidnappers that you not mention me, I'm kinda hoping they've forgotten about me. And I'd rather not remind them of my presence. This may sound selfish but their probably more worried about the presidents daughter, I'm not about to draw their attention away from her. " By the time she had finished explaining her 'fear' Leon had an understanding look in his light blue eyes.

"No doubt if I were in your shoes I'd do the same thing," was all he said, Rowan was immensely pleased that he didn't judge her for wanting to use Ashley's status as a shield. With that out of the way she started hopping from one piece of rubble to the next to explore, and more importantly try to find some dynamite of her own.

It didn't take her too long to find the half buried bodies of the ganados, at least she thought it was half buried, it could have just been half a ganado. She used her body to shield her work from Leon's view and she managed to get three intact sticks of dynamite and she found a silver Zippo lighter. Just as she stuffed her booty into her messenger bag Leon decided it was time to move on. Rowan noted that with his injuries healed, Leon was back to his awesome bad ass self.

Leon walked cautiously out from behind the section of wall where they had been hiding and looked around. There wasn't much to see really. They were standing in the smoking debris of the house she had blown to hell, the remains of the other house was close by and the last house was beckoning them to enter. _Luis,_ Rowan thought, _and Mendez. _


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